Pentagon Thinks There Are Too Many White Males In Special Forces

Elite units in the military are by and large both white and male. Pentagon officials, however, are hoping for a major demographic shift, citing the benefits of diversity in terms of increasing operational capacity.

Data provided by each individual service to USA Today illustrates current disparities, which are most prominent in units like the Navy SEALs and the Army’s Green Berets. For instance, in the Army, blacks comprised 17 percent of the force in 2013, a figure slightly higher than their representation in the overall population. As the ranks start climbing, the numbers shift. Blacks amount to only 9.4 percent of officers in the military.

In the Navy SEALs, just 2 percent are black, while Native Americans make up about 4 percent, or 99 SEALs.

Only 5.6 percent of enlisted Green Berets are black. But in the Air Force, among para-rescuers, the number drops even further down to .6 percent.